Saudi deal for Turkish drones during Erdogan visit

A Turkish firm will provide drones to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh said Tuesday following a visit by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that aims to attract foreign investment.

Several contracts including the drone deal were signed during a meeting between Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on Monday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Erdogan, who in May elections won another five-year term, was in Saudi Arabia to kick off a Gulf tour seeking to drum up support for Turkey's faltering economy.

The Turkish leader is expected in neighbouring Qatar later on Tuesday.
After attending a Saudi-Turkish business forum in Jeddah on Monday, Erdogan and Prince Mohammed discussed "prospects for joint cooperation" in their meeting, SPA reported.

The two leaders signed cooperation agreements in the fields of energy, direct investment, defence and media, the report said.

It added that Saudi officials also signed "two contracts with the Turkish company Baykar", a drone manufacturer which is co-run by one of Erdogan's sons-in-law.

Drones developed by the privately-owned firm have been used in Azerbaijan, Libya and Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia "will acquire drones with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom's armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities", Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on Tuesday.

He did not specify the value of the deal or the type of drone the kingdom is looking to procure. An Arab diplomat in Riyadh, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said it was Baykar's TB2 model.

Last month, Kuwait said it struck a $367-million agreement to procure TB2 drones. This week's visit is Erdogan's second to Saudi Arabia since a recent rapprochement between Ankara and Riyadh, whose ties were strained by the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Turkey angered Saudi Arabia by vigorously pursuing the case at the time, opening an investigation and briefing international media on the gory details of the killing. But with ties on the mend, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Prince Mohammed travelled to Turkey in June last year.

Erdogan's current Gulf trip comes as Turkey battles a currency collapse and soaring inflation that has battered its economy. In March, Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion in Turkey's central bank.

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